“FG-ASUU Face off: The Issues Within” - Report of E-conference Proceedings

On Saturday, October 5, 2013, Spaces for Change (S4C) convened an e-conference, “FG-ASUU Face off: The Issues Within” featuring Dr. James Okpiliya, the Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Calabar chapter. Over  3500 members of S4C forum, comprising mainly of young Nigerians converged online to engage the ASUU representative, with the objective of understanding the demands of the striking Nigerian university lecturers, ascertain the status of FG-ASUU negotiations and proffer recommendations on the way forward. 

E-Conference: FG-ASUU Faceoff: The Issues Within

E-Conference! E-Conference!! E-Conference!!!

"FG-ASUU Faceoff: The Issues Within"

YOU are cordially invited to Spaces for Change (S4C) e-conference featuring Dr James Okpiliya, ASUU Chairman, University of Calabar, Cross Rivers State.

Date: Saturday, October 5, 2013

Venue: SPACES FOR CHANGE Facebook group

Time: 4-6 p.m.

BACKGROUND

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been on indefinite strike for over 90 days and counting, due to some unmet demands and dishonored agreements they reached with the Federal Government in 2009. There seems to be a lot of controversy regarding the real issues and factors fuelling the strike action. Is ASUU hell bent on improving the Nigerian educational sector? Is ASUU strike politically motivated? Is it true that the political opposition is taking advantage of the strike to toy with the future of the youths just because they want to take over power come 2015?

These and many more questions informed the convening of the above e-conference. S4C has collated a wide range of questions in advance, submitted by a broad spectrum of concerned Nigerians at home and in the diaspora.

If you have any device at all (mobile phones, laptops,  iPads, tablets, androids, playbooks et al) connected to the internet, all you have to do is to log on to Facebook social networking site and join the conversation. Recognizing that the youth bear the brunt of recurrent strike actions, the conference will afford over 3500 young Nigerians an opportunity to understand the demands of striking lecturers, ascertain the status of FG-ASUU negotiations and proffer recommendations on the way forward.

You can submit your won questions  or view submitted questions via this link: https://m.facebook.com/groups/106878672727240?view=permalink&id=525241164224320&p=30&refid=18

Excerpts:

PULLING TOGETHER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Between September 26-27, 2013, Spaces for Change -S4C staff visited sites degraded by oil spill and recurrent environmental pollution in Ibeno and eight other local government areas in Akwa Ibom State, looking specifically at the impacts on traditional livelihoods, water, food and environmental quality in general. Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN) Unlimited and Total Nigeria Plc are the two major oil companies engaged in oil exploration and production in the state. The site visits were followed by series of consultations with clan heads, traditional and youth leaders of the affected communities, representatives of state and federal ministries and regulatory agencies involvedin pollution control and environmental sustainability. 

Happy 53rd Independence Anniversary: Poems for Nigeria

Consistent with its mandate to nurture a generation of Nigerian youth who are patriotic, and develop their capacity to become involved in social and economic development, Spaces for Change(S4C)  issued out a call to young Nigerians to submit short poems and articles in commemoration of Nigeria’s 53^rd Independence Day anniversary. The call generated substantial feedback and contributions.  Out of the 18 short poems and 10 articles received, we are happy to reproduce some of them here to the reading pleasure of our esteemed fans and followers. 

We wish all Nigerians and our great nation a happy celebration.

I Will Stay!!! Campaign Flags Off

Spaces for Change is proud to launch its I WILL STAY (IWS) campaign!!! IWS targets young people who are at-risk of engaging in delinquent and negative behavior, with wrap-around supportive services, experience-sharing and strategic mentoring provided freely by S4C Youth Advocates.  Using a combination of direct experience-sharing, counseling, public advocacy, video-viewing, blogging, web-based conferencing and coaching on emotional intelligence, IWS will work to reach young people in time to prevent their involvement in harmful social behaviours that lead to frustration, crime, delinquency and illegal migration. 

Dangote's Private Refinery: The Hopes and Fears

Billionaire business man, Aliko Dangote is proposing to build a $9 billion refinery at the Olokola Free Trade Zone, OK FTZ. If the project succeeds, that would be the first privately-owned refinery in Nigeria, with the potential to create jobs, eliminate subsidies and even spur other businesses in and around where the refinery is sited. 

For over 7 days, members of Spaces for Change-S4C's discussion forum on Facebook social networking site engaged in a very intense debate centered on the viability of the project, elucidating other social and economic concerns surrounding the initiative. Discussants comprised mainly of young Nigerian oil and gas professionals, business analysts, policy advocates, environmentalists, students, journalists and public commentators working in global and national energy-focused institutions and corporations. Concerns ranged from the massive drift towards privatization of public utilities, deregulation of the downstream sector, oil industry monopoly, ineffective regulation of private enterprises, poor maintenance of the existing four refineries, public sector inefficiency, including dearth of legal protection of the rights of the poor to access basic goods and services.  

Spaces for Youth Development and Social Change, (Spaces for Change) works to increase the participation of Nigerian youth, women and other marginalized constituencies in social and economic development and public decision-making. 

Here are excerpts from the conversation:  

PIB: Getting Everyone Involved!

Famed for its expertise in leveraging technology and using crowd-sourcing and web-based communication tools to promote public awareness and citizen engagement in policy and legislative processes of the Nigerian oil and gas sectors, Spaces for Change (S4C) took good work to scale by launching a vibrant media campaign to improve citizens’ access to information about the ongoing oil sector reforms. Through our media advocacy work, we popularized the Petroleum Industry Bill on the social media and generated extensively publicly available data on a wide range of policy issues affecting the Nigerian oil and gas industry. 

Traditional and new media tools and platforms were utilized to share information and raise public awareness about the Bill, including other economic policies and programs affecting the oil sector. S4C staff featured on several TV programs, radio talk shows and online portals where they presented e-conference outcomes and research findings on specific provisions of the Bill, highlighting areas in urgent need of legislative scrutiny.

The (Uncontrolled) Scramble for Africa’s Resources

By Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri

Over the last decade, the resource curse in Africa has disappointingly showed minimal signs of reversal, no thanks to the store of unmet expectations of developmental progress associated with natural resource finds.  No week passes without the announcement and ensuing celebration of mineral resource discoveries across Africa. These finds have rarely translated to better infrastructure; increased access to education and basic healthcare and other social and economic benefits despite the monstrous profits and the huge revenues generated from hydrocarbon, gas, gold, diamonds and many other mineral resources.

Mobilizing Community Participation in Oil Policy Development

Traditional rulers, community representatives, youth and women leaders play important roles as spokespersons and advocates of environmental justice and sustainable development in the Niger Delta region generally, especially in oil producing communities. Helping them to understand how Nigeria‟s latest oil sector reform bill, the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), responds to their environmental concerns and socio-economic priorities is a necessary step towards empowering communities and mobilizing the participation of local voices and actors in policy processes that bear direct impact on their wellbeing and livelihood. For this reason, Spaces for Change (S4C) and the PIB Advocacy Working Group (WG) embarked on an advocacy tour of the Niger Delta region, consulting extensively with local leaders and sensitizing communities across 5 major states in the Niger Delta: Edo, Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa and Cross River states. 

We are proud to present a synthesis report of the field missions to oil producing communities in the Niger-Delta undertaken by Spaces for Change and the PIB Advocacy Working Group (the advocacy team) during the period of February – July 2013.